Skip tabulating mechanism for accounting machines



Aug. 4, 1953 w, A. ANDERSON SKIP TABULATING MECHANISM FOR ACCOUNTINGMACHINES Filed Nov. 28, 1951 INVENTOR. WALTER A. ANDERSON BY fi/AA'L 4ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 4, 1953 SKIP TABULATING MECHANISM FOR ACCOUNTINGMACHINES Walter A. Anderson, Trumbull, Conn, assignor to UnderwoodCorporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware ApplicationNovember 28, 1951, Serial No. 258,547

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a skip tabulating mechanism for an accountingmachine and more particularly to a latch mechanism to free such skiptabulating mechanism for actuation in predetermined portions of amachine cycle.

In some prior accounting machines of the wellknown Underwood Sundstrandtype, a skip tabulating or Express Tab key has been provided to enablethe operator to cause the machine carriage to skip tabulate from anyentry column through intervening columns to the blank cycle columnpreceding the new balance column. Such tabulation is utilized toeliminate the necessity of individually tabulating through theintervening columns, in some of which columns the carriage controls maybe set to initiate an automatic machine cycle and thus requireadditional time.

It has been found that in such accounting machines, a fast operator caninitiate an entry cycle of the machine and can then release the normallyeffective tabulator stop by operation of the skip tabulator key before acyclically operating tabulator holding stop is eifective to retain thecarriage. Such premature release of the carriage resulted in errors dueto the printing being made While the carriage is moving and hence properalignment and also in the movement of the carriage carried functioncontrols out of the effective position resulting in incomplete controlover the machine functions.

It is, object of the present invention to provide in such an accountingmachine, a latching mechanism to prevent depression of the Express Tabkey until the machine has operated sufficiently far in the machine cyclethat depression of such key cannot introduce errors.

may cause a misoperation Still another object of the invention is toprovide a, latch means, such as above described, that is simple inconstruction, economical to manufacture and assemble in the machine, anddependable in operation.

With these and incidental objects in view, the invention consists incertain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, theimportant elements of which are herein set forth in appended claims, anda preferred embodiment of which is hereinafter described with referenceto the drawings which accompany and form part of this specification.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a partial right hand perspective view of anaccounting machine embodying the present invention, showing the parts inthe positions they occupy beforean amount is entered in '2 the amountkeys, and before the machine is cycled.

Figure 2 is a partial right side view in vertical elevation, showing theparts in the positions they occupy when the machine is at mid-cycle, and

Figure 3 is a fragmental top plan view showing the machine main rockshaft in the position it occupies at the beginning of a cycle.

The invention is described herein in connection with a machine of thecharacter disclosed in Patent No. 2,194,270 issued March 19, 1940 toOscar J. Sundstrand, and in Patent No. 2,330,660, issued September 28,1943 to Walter A. Anderson, to which patents, reference may be made foran understanding of features of construction and mode of operation notfully illustrated or described herein.

Referring to the drawings, the machine base is indicated at it, Figures1 and 2, and carries thereon a frame structure including a side plate ii. A stud [3 passes through a slot in a lock actuating link [4 and isfixed in side plate It to slidabl support link M. Link M. is pivotallyconnected at its lower end by a stud It to a lock lever l1 pivoted on astud l9 in the base It. A spring 20 connected between an arm of lever I!and a stationary part, biases lever I! clockwise, Figure 1, to positionan end of lever I! under a stud 22 in an Express Tab or skip tabulatingkey 23. This key 23 is the key numbered 5 in the above Patent No.2,330,660 and is similarly connected by means of stud 24, bell crank 25and link 26 to the carriage tabulating mechanism to operate it andrelease the carriage for tabulation upon depression of the key 23.

Lock lever I1 is. normally prevented from engaging and latching key 23so long as an item is not indexed in the keyboard. A swinging arm 30carrying a post 3! on its underside is a part of the item indexingmechanism and remains in the Figure 1 position until an item is indexedfrom the keyboard, thereby retaining a slide 33 in its left handposition. Slide 33 is slidable on a stud 34 fixed in base l0 and istensioned to the right by a spring 35 to follow post ill for the firststep of its indexing movement. In its left hand, Figure 1, position, apost 3'! in slide 33 engages an arm of a lever 38 pivoted on a stud 39in lock lever I! and connected thereto by a spring 40. Spring 4D holdsan edge of lever 38 in contact with a front edge of lever l7 and isstrong enough to. overcome the efiect of spring 29 on lever l1 so thatwhen lever 38 is contacted by post 31 of slide 33, lock lever I7 ismoved to the unlocking position of Figure 1. Upon the indexing of thefirst digit of an item, slide 33 is freed to move to the right andrelease. lock lever I 1 and lever 38 for movement by spring 20 to lockkey 23 in its upper position.

The lock lever I! must remain in the lockin position with respect to key23 until a point has been reached in a machine cycle where operation ofthe Express Tab (skip tabulating) key 23 cannot affect the machine cyclethen in progress. The lock II should thereafter be immediately releasedto permit key 23 to be depressed. Such release of lock lever H at theproper time is effected by a stud M fixed in a cam 45 secured to themain drive shaft 46 of the machine. The main shaft 45 moves during amachine cycle from the Figure 1 position to that of Figure 2 andreturns. At substantially the mid-point of the cycle, stud 44 contactsthe rear end of link l4 and shifts it to a forward, Figure 2, position.Such movement of link it swings lock lever II to its released positionand permits depression of key 23.

Key 23 should thereafter remain free for deression. Since stud 44 movesaway from link M as soon as the main shaft 45 starts on its return atthe start of the second half cycle, and a slide 33 is not moved into itsleft hand position until the item indexing mechanism is restored nearthe end of the machine cycle, it is necessary to provide a latch toretain lock lever II and link M in their key releasing position duringthis interval. This retaining function is provided by a latch arm 41pivoted on a stud 48 on link 14 and extending rearwardly to normallyrest on a flat plate Secured to shaft 46. In this position of arm 41, ashoulder 53 thereon is just above and to the rear of the front edge of abar 54 secured to the base plate It). Just after the start of a machinecycle, plate 5! moves from under the rear end of latch arm 41 permittingthe arm to drop and rest upon the upper surface of bar 54. Thereafterlink H1 and latch 41 are moved forwardly by stud M to release lock leverII and this motion is sufficient to move shoulder 53 in front of bar 54allowing arm 41 to drop slightly until its rear end contacts an enlargedportion of shaft 46.

At the beginning of the return movement of shaft 4G during the secondhalf cycle, stud 44 moves away from link M which thereupon movesslightly rearwardly under the urge of spring until shoulder 53 contactsthe front edge of bar 54. Such contact of shoulder 53 and bar 54 retainslink I l and lock lever H in their releasin positions untilsubstantially the end of the machine cycle at which point plate 5| ireturned to strike the rear end of arm 41 and lift shoulder 53 above bar54 freeing the lock lever I! for movement to locking position. At suchtime, however, the indexing mechanism including arm 38 and slide 33 hasbeen returned to it normal position, destroying the indexed amount. Post31 is then in contact with lever 38 and takes over the function ofpreventing the engagement of lock lever II with key 23.

Summarizing, the Express Tab key 23 is generally free for operation solong as no amount is indexed for a posting entry. As soon as an amountis entered, the machine is not in condition for an express tabulation tothe usual blank cycle column and the Express Tab key is thereupon lockedagainst depression due to the release of lock lever 11 by slide 33. Suchlatching of key 23 is retained until approximately the mid-point of afollowing machine cycle at which time stud 44 resets lock lever H to theunlocking position. Lock lever II is held in the unlocking positionafter stud 44 moves away from link [4 by arm 41 which drops in front ofa stationary bar 54 when link 14 is moved to unlock key 23. Arm 4! israised to release link M from bar 54 at the end of a machine cycle butthe lock lever II is not then free to return to a locking position as itis then held by the indexing mechanism controlled slide 33 which holdsthe lock released until the beginning of the indexing of a new amount.

The above description is of a preferred embodiment onlyof my inventionand is not to be taken as limiting the scope of the following claims asmany variations are possible without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. In an accounting machine of the type having a frame, a carriageshiftable on said frame and tabulating mechanism for said carriage, anamount indexing mechanism, an express tabulating key, a lock leverspring urged to a position in which said lever locks said expresstabulating key against operation, a member connected to the amountindexing mechanism to hold said lock lever in the unlocking positionwhen no amount is indexed in said indexing mechanism. a cyclicallyoperating member to momentarily move said lock lever to an unlockingposition, a latch to hold said lock lever in said unlocking position,and a cyclically operating member to release said latch and free saidlock lever to control by said indexing mechanism.

2. In an accounting machine of the class described having an expresstabulating key to free a carriage of said machine for movement to apredetermined columnar position, an amount indexing mechanism includinga part movable from a home position whenever an amount is indexed, and acycling mechanism, the combination of a look lever to prevent depressionof said express tabulating key, means urging said lock lever intolocking position, a slide controlled by said movable portion of saidindexing mechanism to hold said lock lever in an ineffective positionuntil an amount is indexed, a link momentarily actuated by said cyclingmechanism at a point in the machine cycle to move said locking lever toits ineffective position, a latch to retain said link in said actuatedposition, and cyclically actuated means to release said latch after saidindexing mechanism is restored to its home position.

3. In an accounting machine of the class described, the combination of acycling mechanism driven in cycles to operate said machine, an expresstabulating key manually operable to release a carriage of said machinefor movement to a predetermined position, a lock lever resiliently urgedto lock said express tabulating key against operation, an amountindexing mechanism having a home position and shiftable therefrom uponentry of an amount in said indexing mechanism, means operable by saidamount indexing means in said home position to retain said lock lever inan ineffective position with respect to said key, a link operable bysaid cycling mechanism to shift said lock lever to its ineffectiveposition, a latch connected with said link and engageable in theoperated position of said link with a fixed portion of said machine toretain said lock lever in the ineffective position after release of saidlink from said cycling mechanism, and a cyclically operated memberincluded in said cycling mechanism to shift said latch to a non-engagingposition.

WALTER A. ANDERSON.

No references cited.

